


Eve Meets Yinu (With Neon J Acting as Conduit)

by mangneov



Series: No Straight Roads Ficlets [2]
Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Eve is tired of her dad's eccentricities (ironic), Fluff, Neon J the Babysitter, Pre-Canon, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangneov/pseuds/mangneov
Summary: The Dreamfever and Metro Division charters talk about babysitting the Natura charters' kid, without actually babysitting her.
Relationships: Eve | Nadia (No Straight Roads) & Neon J. (No Straight Roads)
Series: No Straight Roads Ficlets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150424
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Eve Meets Yinu (With Neon J Acting as Conduit)

Nadia (she forgets—her name, in her head, should be Eve now) turns away from her canvas at the knock at the studio door. The piece is crowning at the precipice of identity, but she leaves it for the door. Young and new and ultimately inexperienced compared to her peers, she's still trying to be accommodating and personable with her colleagues. 

Throwing the bolted locks open and pulling apart the bronze portals, she unveils her visitor to be Metro Division's charter. Nadia's talked to him only thrice before, but he's hard to forget. She promptly straightens into her towering presence over him and wipes her hands (nervously) off on her thighs.

"Mr. J. You—"

Her eyes meet with the face at his hip.

"—have a child?"

That alien, unnerving head of his looks down as well. He's cradling her a bit strangely, one armed and pressed to his side, but the kid isn't crying or wiggling to get free. 

Her face is rather striking. Her eyes, a deep pink in color, are large and wet, but show no evidence of tears. Orange and red paint along her cheeks and nose in patterns shockingly deep-set. Her hair is a curl of warm yellow at her forehead and cheekbones, and matches so exactly to her father's that Nadia would've known they were related without being told.

"Why on earth do you have the Zolotos' child with you? And why have you bought her here?"

J barks out a jarringly sharp laugh. The girl at his hip seems unfazed. 

"Obviously I'm babysitting her. The Zolotos have a concert this evening and I'm a big hit with Yinu. The problem? I've never babysat her by myself before. Bee's out of Vinyl City on business and my troops are all recovering from upgrades right now. The solution? _You and your gallery~_ "

Nadia's face pinches promptly in frustration. She soothes it quickly with a hard blink.

"Why didn't they call a nanny?"

"Yinu likes hanging out with me, right Yinu?" 

The girl nods her head enthusiastically, even as her expression remains unfalteringly stern.

"And you usually take on this job with help? If...Bea and the boys are unavailable, why not recruit Supernova?"

J's head falls to his shoulder, clearly unimpressed. 

"And let him bore her to death? Eve, I love the man's voice, I really do, but the last time I attempted to include him, Sub talked about himself and Calypso until he made Yinu cry."

He pinches the girl's cheek, and she giggles. 

"Could you not simply call Bea and ask her to guide you through the usual routine? The one you really should've remembered." 

J breaks into raucous laughter again.

" _Bernadotte_ is in Asiopeia. It's o-three hundred hours there right now. If I woke him up, he'd fly all the way back just to smack me upside the head. There's not much of a routine to memorize, anyways. And I'd know. My life is built on routine."

Nadia takes a step closer, and without any prompting, J raises Yinu slightly so she can make proper eye contact.

"I suppose I wouldn't mind if the two of you joined me for awhile. If I have to."

"With more conviction?"

"I was in the middle of something, Mr. J," Nadia sighs. "My first gallery opens in a month."

J turns to Yinu. After a moment, he brushes a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. "She's very polite. Very interested in your work, too. If you give us an hour, I'll buy you lunch tomorrow."

Nadia grins with a huff. 

"You buy me lunch everyday, Mr. J. Even when I don't want it."

"How do I make this exchange work, then? Dinner? Cash? Coffee?"

"Coffee. A coffee at Wednesday's meeting."

J's posture perks back up. "Alright, that I can do! _Pleasure doing business with you~_ "

Nadia just shakes her head. She opens the bronze doors to her studio further, allowing J to enter. Yinu's large eyes have already begun roving, analyzing the place from its immaculate white ceiling to the cluttered flood of spread material on the floor. 

"There's a set of finger paints beneath the third windowsill to your right. She's welcome to them."

A distant murmur.

"I'm sorry?" Nadia asks, but it clearly wasn't J who said it.

"Th-thank you!" Yinu repeats, child-lisp and lack of volume control appearing full force. She's straightened determinedly, face scrunched up all serious, but she's clearly delighted. 

It causes Nadia to smile. A light, single laugh comes tumbling out.

"It's no problem, darling." She points at J. "Keep it clean. You've got an hour until the building closes."

J salutes with his free hand, and Nadia hides an eye roll as she returns to her canvas.

**Author's Note:**

> Dumb, long title is dumb and long. I definitely think it would be cute to write a full length fic of any one of the charters babysitting Yinu. Maybe even all of them. That might be a future fic, though, as I've committed to writing a oneshot everyday for...well, I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking a week?
> 
> This stupid challenge may be my undoing


End file.
